


She Came Back

by simmsstan1



Category: Superstore (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-12 15:08:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29262525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/simmsstan1/pseuds/simmsstan1
Summary: Months have passed since Amy left St Louis for California and Jonah is carrying on. Find out what happens, when one day, she returns.
Relationships: Amy Sosa/Jonah Simms, Amy/Jonah, Jonah Simms/Amy Sosa, Jonah/Amy
Comments: 21
Kudos: 59





	1. Chapter 1

Lately, the days had been pretty repetitive if he was being completely honest. And that was ok with him. A masked Jonah stacked the food shelves as he had been assigned to do that morning. Just like he was assigned the day before. However, nobody could criticize his work ethic. Even now he never slacked in diligence. But there was no denying he was a different Cloud 9 employee than he was 6 years ago.

There was a time when he was excited to go to work. Not necessarily for the work itself but he enjoyed what the potential of the day held for him. Life was more colourful, more electric. Moments of beauty were everywhere if you just allowed yourself to see them. He truly believed that. Now he looked back at his own naivety in embarrassment. What an idiot. So dumb.

While lost in his own thoughts, a familiar exotic scent brought him back to reality. It was her perfume. He bought it for her two Christmases ago. He stood up straight, swung around and suddenly she was there, standing right in front of him. Was this real? He accidentally dropped the small stack of tuna cans he was holding. Some landing on his foot hard and rolling like they couldn’t get away fast enough.

“Ow.” Yup, real.

“Hi Jonah,” Amy said hopefully. Tentatively. With a small smile that made Jonah weak and scared at the same time.

“Hiii Amy. You’re here! ...Well, ahhaahow the hell are ya!? “Jonah was trying so hard to seem casual. His mask covered most of his humiliation except for the give-away arched eyebrows.

“Um yeah, I’m alright” she said not quite as emphatically. “I’m here to meet with Glenn and Dina. Just going over some... you know customer relations corporate boring stuff blah blah” dismissively waving it off like he shouldn’t have to care about it. She was clearly very nervous seeing him again too.

“Ah. Yeah, boring pft.” excessively nodding in agreement.

An awkward silence filled the space between them. Jonah needed to do something, say something. Before he could, Amy saved him. “It was a last minute meeting added to the schedule. I wasn’t sure if I should’ve texted you first to see if it was ok...”

“No no, of course, of course it’s ok. Why wouldn’t it be ok? It’s your job, so.”

His voice raising to a volume that made nearby customers turn there heads in curiosity.

He continued again, a little calmer this time, “I’m glad to see you” he said sincerely. “You look...good.” Jonah said, swallowing the lump in his throat. The heat on the neck and ears was almost unbearable.

“Thanks” Amy said, briefly looking down at the floor, grabbing her face mask from her pocket. “Well I should, go. Don’t want to be late”. She carefully put her mask on around her ears. She hesitated when she turned around. “Can we talk later?”

“Absolutely!” he exclaimed, again to the attention of the bewildered customers. Cool Jonah had clearly left the building long ago.

Her eyes smiled in gratitude. “Great.”

“You’ll know where to find me” he unnecessarily added.

His statement hit her with the pang of guilt that was unintentional. She walked away looking back only once to see him quietly chastising himself. 

....

“Knock, knock!” standing at the door of the managers office where inside Dina and Glenn were arguing, again, Amy decided an interruption was required. It was like she never left.

A high pitched enthusiastic “AMY!” was her reward. Glenn’s face beamed like a child on Christmas morning. He jumped up from chair behind his desk and rushed over to hug her.

“Glenn, NO!” Dina shouted at him. She just came from California, you idiot. The virus all but decimated the entire population, and you want to hug one of them right now?!”

“Bit of an exaggeration.” Amy said meekly.

“Oh, well, I’m just so HAPPY to see you! Air hug? “ Glenn asked hopefully.

“Air hug.” Both mimed the gesture that had become all too familiar amongst friends lately.

“What do we owe this surprise visit?!“ Glenn went back around to sit behind his desk, delight still shining through him.

“Well, I thought we could talk about the roll out for the Cloud 9 consumer online survey...

“What survey? The one you gave a webinar on about last week to all the managers? That one? You came all the way from Corona ravaged California to talk to us IN PERSON about a stupid, useless survey?” Dina was confused and slightly suspicious.

“Dina!” Glenn objected.

“Um well, yeah.” Amy tried to think of a more credible excuse. “But also to see my peeps! I missed my old crew at 1217!” she flashed her radiant smile. That should do it.

“Awe, we missed you too!” Glenn looked like a charmed puppy. “The thing is though, I have an appointment with our accountant today. So I can’t stay. But I will be back later so if we can meet then? OH, how about I treat us a takeout picnic! Socially distanced, of course. I could even get Jerusha to make us a -“

“No, Glenn,” Dina interrupted him irritated. “Do your appointment. My bestie and I can catch up without you cramping our style,” giving a knowing wink to Amy.

Amy was uncomfortable. “It’s ok, Glenn. I’ll do the meeting with Dina and I will make sure to stick around for your return. We’ll catch up then.”

“Ok, great.”

After Glenn had gone, Amy thought the suspicion in the room would have left with him. She was wrong.

“So, bestie. Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing you again, but I would like know why you’re really here.” Dina leaned in for the truth that she could see just behind the thinly, vailed guise of Amy’s face.

Amy sighed with combined relief and trepidation. The pretence could finally end.She thumped down in the chair. “It’s Jonah.”

“Of course it is.”

....

A muffled moan from came within Amy’s crumbled arms on Dina’s desk. “Uuuugh...”

“So, you flew all the way here to talk to him after...months, and then when you finally did see his soft, Bambi eyes staring back at you, you biffed it.” Dina leaned back in her chair with air of someone who knew her friend too well.

“That’s the size of it.” She sat up, still vexed. “I had it all planned out. Every single syllable of what I wanted to say to him. How sorry I was. How much I missed him... How -“

“So wait, you’re saying you’ve changed your mind? You actually  do  love him?”

“Dina, I never stopped loving him,” she said defensively. “ I was just under  so  much stress at the time with work, you know that. So did Jonah. I was too overwhelmed with it all, I couldn’t think straight. I thought this new job was my one chance to prove to myself that I could handle anything. To be the strong, uncompromising woman I saw myself being when I was a little girl. That ambition died when I had Emma and married Adam. I confused my broken dreams to what I could happen in California...”

“And you hate it,” Dina suggested.

“No! I love it. Well, most of it,” she conceded. “This pandemic doesn’t make it easy to make new friends, at work, or anywhere. And Emma is all too eager to point out that my life now is pretty ‘ basic’ , Amy gestured air quotes around the last word. “On the very rare times she opens up to me, it’s always about how sad I look ever since we moved. She said I was  obviously happier when Jonah was around. As annoying as he was, he always made her feel better. She misses him, so does Parker, I can tell.” Her confession ceasing only to add “I’ve missed him too...so much, Dina.” Her voice cracking with emotion.

“Ok, well I’ve heard enough,” Dina picked up the phone receiver and pushed the intercom button. “Jonah Simms, please report to the managers’ office. Jonah Simms to managers’ office”.

Amy’s look of terror was unmistakable.

“What? Sounds like the perfect make up speech to me. You just need to rip off that crusty, disgusting bandaid once and for all.”

Resolved and oddly empowered, Amy agreed with a more genuine smile. “Ok!” 

…

Several minutes passed while Amy paced the office like a caged tiger. “Where is he? He’s always very prompt, especially with me. He knows I’m here.”

Lounging with her feet up on her desk, an almost indifferent Dina replied, “Dunno, maybe he’s trapped under something.” Off Amy’s low grade, panicked expression she sat up and rolled her chair over to the security monitors to check. “Not seeing him anywhere. Could be hiding in the employees bathroom.”

“Hiding? What for? You don’t think he doesn’t want to talk to me, do you? He did seem a little bit uncomfortable when we first spoke, but I thought that was pretty normal for him.”

“Yeah, he can be a spazz when the pressure’s on.”Returning to her desk Dina cued up the internal Zephra employee app on her computer. It’s telling me he’s still on the clock so unless he left his phone here, he’s still on the premises.”

“He would never leave his phone.” Amy wrung her hands, worried.

Dina stared knowingly at the ground, holding back.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Dina!”

“It’s just, you messed him up pretty bad when you left. Sure he tried his best to carry on. He even applied for the floor supervisor position thinking his new and oh so innovative ideas could benefit everyone.” Dina laughed and shook her head at the memory. “Sad, really.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad. Jonah’s always looking at the positives with everything. That’s who he is. Wait, did you give the job to somebody else?”

“It was just a cover, Amy. You broke him,” ignoring her last question. “His confidence is completely shattered, now. We all can see it. I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes home every night and cries into his eco-friendly pillows. Blaming himself for everything that went wrong in your relationship.”

“But it wasn’t his fault! It was me! Oh god, I have to talk to him right now. Come on, help me find him.” Amy rushed to the door. Dina followed her frantic best friend. Delighted at the prospect of hunting a petrified squirrel in a preppy, man-boy disguise.

Meanwhile, sitting in the dark, Jonah contemplated his abrupt decision to hide. Had it really come to this? Afraid to talk to the one person whom he had painfully detailed conversations with in his dreams every night? He knocked his head back on the cold cement wall behind him. Pathetic.


	2. Chapter 2

Amy rushed into the dark storage room before Dina had a chance to find the light switch. “Jonah, are you in here?”

Once the lights came on, both women could see clearly that they were alone. “The recall room? Why would think he would be in here?” Dina asked.

Amy sighed, “Just a hunch.” She wandered aimlessly recalling better times. “This is where we came when we were searching for the back entrance to the...” she stopped short of an incriminating confession. “Erm, when we were looking for... something, can’t remember what.” Peaking over to see if Dina was buying it. Unsure, she kept talking. “We found this place by accident. We stayed for few hours. We ate recalled snacks, and played with all the recalled toys...and -“

“And had sex.”

“No! We did not have sex,” Amy corrected. “We talked. It was nice,” the memory made her heart warm and her face glow. “That was when I finally admitted to myself that I really liked him. You know, more than a friend.” Her cheeks flushed a pale crimson.

“I remember this!” Dina exclaimed triumphantly. “Man, you were so thirsty for him after that.” 

“Yes well,” Amy straighten up and continued. “I suppose it was inevitable,” He’s always had the ability to get under my skin. Before he came along, life around here was, as my darling daughter would say, pretty ‘basic’. Amy was pleased with her teen slang accomplishment. “He made the work day fun. He’s always going out of his way to find...” Her eye caught a purple box in one of the overflowing toy bins. A night light. The kind that splayed an array of twinkling stars on a child’s bedroom ceiling. An almost forgotten memory came flooding back. Damn him.

Dina came closer to see what was diverting Amy’s attention.   
Picking up one of the night light boxes, Amy asked, “Why were these recalled?” 

“Manufacturing Error,” Dina read the bright yellow sticker on the top. “My guess, a disgruntled factory employee, working for peanuts in Taiwan, messed with the design and put something inappropriate for kids in one of them. So they had to recall the whole shipment. That’s usually the case. Why?” 

Amy’s eyes sparkled with a budding idea taking shape. Can I borrow some of these?”

…

Jonah checked his phone. It was almost 2 hours since he heard Dina’s request on the store’s intercom. Amy wanted to see him in private. Why did he only feel a sense of dread in that moment? What more could she do? Break up with him again? He was being stupid and he knew it. Still, his brain’s inability to move was also relieved that he had at least used the facilities before he made his quick escape. When he came upon this hovel it looked like someone else had already had the same idea at some point. There was an unfolded, makeshift cot and a couple of stacked milk crates in the corner. It also had a distinct smell that he couldn’t distinguish and preferred not to. He clicked on his phone again. Thank goodness for the store’s wifi. He could at least watch Netflix until the store closed. He’ll make an excuse tomorrow to Dina and Glenn for his absence when Amy had safely left town. 

He started to scroll when he heard a shuffle of heavy feet coming closer down the narrow, dark hallway around the corner. The shine of a flashlight was blasting in his eyes before heard the voice who owned it. 

“Jonah? There you are, dude! Dina’s had everyone looking for you!” An elated Marcus was standing over him, smiling broadly like a giant that just found buried treasure.

“Hi Marcus. ...How’s it going?” He tried to sound casual.

“Why are you in here? Hey, did you know Amy is here?” Marcus took a seat right beside him on the cot. Social distance protocol obviously ignored. 

“Is she?” Jonah shift slightly away creating a more comfortable gap.

“Yeah, she looks smokin’ hot. I mean, you know, for someone who dumped you and left for the sweet, California dream,” Marcus flipped his flashlight back and forth. He had everything he ever wanted. Jonah’s undivided attention. But even in his satisfied glory he recognized his hovel partner’s distress. He carried on to see if he could change the mood. “Ah man, it’s so cool that you found my space. We should totally rename it ‘The Horsemans’ hideout,” Marcus gleamed. 

“Your space?” Jonah asked. Of course. That would explain the smell.

“Our space now, buddy.”

“Okay, well that sounds...great, but do you mind not telling anyone you found me? You know, when you leave?” 

“Why?” Marcus naively asked. “Wait, are you avoiding Amy?” Finally clueing in to the whole predicament.

“Yes, yes I am. I’m sitting in the dark, in the bowels of the store because I don’t want to see my ex girlfriend. An ex girlfriend who has come all the way from California to tell me something I probably do not want to hear,” he openly admitted.

“Why do you think that?”

“What else could it be, Marcus? My life has proven over and over that no matter how much I want good things to happen. And how much I try to make good things happen, the universe has other plans for me. And why should this be any different? I...I...I just know that she’s going to tell me she met someone else. And he’s amazing, and and that she wanted to tell me in person that they’re getting married because of course they are, that someone isn’t me, so duh!” Jonah sprang up from the cot, seething at the visual he concocted.

“Whoa, dude.” Marcus sat there stunned. He had seen Jonah rant plenty of times before. But never with this much self doubt. It shook him. The Jonah Simms, the man who had embodied the ultimate status of cool, was scared of rejection? 

Jonah sighed into the darkness. 

“I get it, man. I do. I’ve been rejected by practically every woman in this store. It’s hard to face them day after day knowing they think you’re gross. But since they refuse to leave and I need a pay check, I have to do it.” This was Marcus’ version of a pep talk.   
“Hey, I can sneak us out of here if you want. We can leave out back and go to my new place, hangout with some pizza and beers, turn on the game-“

“Ok sure.” Jonah conceded. His stomach was starting to grumble anyway.

“Yes! Awesome! Oh man, who would have guessed this day would turn out like this?!”

“Not me.” Jonah reluctantly looked back at darkened hovel before following Marcus out.

“The Horseman ride again!” 

…

Jonah watched the path of the flashlight’s beam in front of them, through the dark, narrow cement halls. His mind wandered to all plausible excuses for he could invent for his humiliating absence. Glenn might buy them, but Dina? Maybe they’ll understand and let him off without a write up. A muffled, static noise interrupted his thought process.

Marcus responded into the walkie talkie with a lower register so as not to be overheard. “Roger, squirrel is on the move, over.”

“Squirrel?” Jonah was confused. “Who are you talking to?”

“Oh, that? ...Rats, you know they’re everywhere around the building. Probably should stop feeding them. I get them confused with squirrels all the time, don’t you? Hey! You know what we can do? My landlord has this new hot tub. Now, he did specifically say I couldn’t use it but...ask for forgiveness before permission, am I right?” Jonah could sense Marcus was absolutely giddy with his plan.

Disturbed by the image of the two of them in a hot tub, Jonah wasn’t ready for the burst of harsh, fluorescent light from the warehouse that engulfed his vision. Marcus looked both ways to make sure the coast was clear before holding the door open for Jonah. He silently waved Jonah to follow him. The two men creeped along the warehouse aisles in the direction of the employee, side exit. They were just about to the door when suddenly all the lights went out. They were in complete darkness again. 

“Ah man, blackout!” Marcus exclaimed disappointed. “Well this sucks”. 

“Blackout? Hold on. We better see what’s going on,” Jonah said, abandoning the escape plan and completely forgetting his own troubles, he reversed back towards the store. 

As they approached, Jonah could see a subtle, blue glow through the windows of the double doors. Something distantly familiar was happening, but what. His breath hitched in his throat. And like a bewildered child under a spell, he pushed through the doors and slowly drew himself closer to the glowing light beyond. 

Stars. Thousands of glowing stars filled the ceiling above. Jonah was....well, star struck. Several nightlight lamps were sitting on top of various shelves around the store, projecting a magical sky that can only be compared to a dream. It must be a dream.

Jonah uttered softly, “What is this?”

“A moment of beauty.” 

He turned his gaze down from the ceiling, around to where Amy was standing directly behind him. She was smiling with that familiar, beautiful smile which he fell in love with when they first met.

She moved towards him as he stayed transfixed. “I love you, Jonah. I came back to tell you how wrong I was; how sorry I am for hurting you; and how much I miss you.   
I do want to marry you, Jonah.” She looked up into his tear filled eyes. “Will, you marry me?” 

Jonah managed a sniffled grin, breathed in deeply, then gently cupped both sides of Amy’s face with his hands and kissed her with all the relief and happiness he possessed. 

They were both oblivious to the smiling crowd of fellow employees and customers that had gathered around, giving them a wide berth. 

He released his lips from hers and answered with a cheeky “Sure, why not. Let’s do it.”

She reached up and pulled him into another loving kiss. 

Marcus looking up at the ceiling again asked, “What’s with the floating penis?”


	3. Chapter 3

Jonah took Amy’s hand and silently pulled her away from the gathering crowd. It was incredible, what had just happened, but he was instantly desperate to talk to her in private. The proposal under the dreamy, indoor, night sky had vanquished the feeling of dread but he still needed answers to all the questions he had asked over and over, on repeat, every night since she had left him.

He pushed the door into the warehouse, which was still in darkness, with his one free hand. It wasn’t on purpose that he had chosen the exact spot where they had broken up but he forced himself to shove that memory aside, hoping she wouldn’t also be cringing. And perhaps this was a good choice. Time to create a new happy memory to replace it the old, bitter one. It was worth a shot, he encouraged himself.

Amy pulled him closer, thinking he wanted to make out like horny teenagers hiding from their parents. He didn’t object. The taste of her lips and sweet breath was delicious. And her natural scent was intoxicating. He wanted to stay this close to her forever. But after a moment of blissful connection he forced himself to stop so he could see her properly. 

“Amy, I just have to be sure that...you’re sure…about this.” He searched her gaze with hope.

Her hunger relaxed as she cupped the sides of his head in her hands. “Yes, I’m sure,” she smiled up at him. She saw his insecurity, how vulnerable he was in her embrace so she gathered all her strength and looked deeply into his eyes. “Jonah, I love you so much.”

“I love you too.”

“I know. You showed me every day.” She dropped her hands and stood back but never leaving his unwavering attention. “And like an idiot, I took you for granted. I never fully appreciated how much you changed my life, Jonah.” She whisked both her arms out in front of her at him. “You made me believe I could achieve anything I wanted. That I was in charge of my own destiny.” She cocked her head to the side in disbelief and laughed. “Dina was right. You really were my manic, pixie, dream girl.” 

This made Jonah laugh too, bashfully looking down at his feet, he found all the tension he was holding in his shoulders release.

“This job was huge. You knew that. I was so excited and...terrified at the same time. The closer it got to a reality, the more overwhelmed I became. You tried to tell me, I know. And then everything blurred into each other. And suddenly I was this Plate Spinner like in the circus. Trying to keep all my plates up and spinning at the same time and then you added the marriage plate to the mix and I freaked out! I was too stressed. I couldn’t see straight with all the... the spinning, so I let it go...and it fell...and it shattered. I didn’t think I could handle it...I let it go...I broke it.” Tears had began to impede Amy’s vision. 

Jonah softly interjected, “ I shouldn’t have -“

“No, Jonah, his wasn’t your fault. You were always there for me. You never wavered. You saw our future together as if we were a team. And I only saw it for myself and you were just my...bonus feature”. Guilt overcame her as she continued. “I never realized how important you were to my happiness. I was so selfish.” 

Jonah couldn’t stand to see her this way and reached out. “Don’t, Amy-” 

“No! You are so important to me, Jonah!” She hit her chest with sincere conviction as she backed up. “I mixed up my marriage failure with Adam and what I had with you! A marriage to me had to fail. It was inevitable,” Amy was sobbing now. “I purposely blinded myself from the truth. And the truth is…I need you. Parker needs you. Emma needs you.” Amy sat down on a nearby chair, the burst of adrenaline was fading fast. “I can have this great and powerful job with all the perks I could ever ask for but if I don’t have you to share it with, what’s the point? 

Jonah sat down beside her gently. He wanted to say this exact right thing in this moment but all that came out was “I like perks”. 

Amy laughed through her tears. “Me too.”

All the unanswered questions he had previously listed in his mind were cancelled out. He wasn’t unworthy of her. It didn’t matter that he was not a successful business guru, or that his athletic prowess left something to be desired. Or that he couldn’t quite master how to charm her family effortlessly without looking like an awkward embarrassment. She loved him for himself and that was enough.

“Well, for what it’s worth, marrying you might be a complete nightmare, but it’s a risk I’m willing to take. Besides, you might feel inclined to murder me in my sleep one night because I’ll have finally bored you to brink of madness with my constant prattling on about the newest, artisan sandwich shop in town.” He gleamed with that wonky grin that always made her weak.

Amy snorted loudly and then grabbed her mouth and nose. “Oh my god,” she mumbled through her enclosed hands. She could barely repress her relief and joy at the man sitting next to her. Jonah was the same guy that fobbed off his first day of work to prove to her that life was filled with wondrous slices. The same guy who stayed with her and was willing to pay for her expensive hospital room while she had another man’s baby. The same guy who told her she should be manager of the store because she was obviously qualified and smart enough to do it. The same guy who stayed up late to help soothe her teething son back to sleep night after night. The same guy who said she shouldn’t give away her chance at a new and exciting job opportunity in another state and he would drop everything he had to go with her. The same guy that held her tight in his arms while a tornado threatened their lives. And here he was again, ready to jump back into the tornado with her. He must be crazy. 

She kissed him and said “You are my moment of beauty, Jonah Simms. And I don’t want this moment to end.”

“Ah man, that’s corny.”

Amy slapped his arm playfully, “shut up.”

“Seriously, does the Hallmark channel know about you.”

“Stop.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A surprise bonus chapter! Because I couldn’t let these two go. This is what I want Amy to tell Jonah. It’s what he deserves to hear.
> 
> Dedicated to my friend teresa_agasgi. Your encouragement has been a blessing. Thank you. You may recognize a certain familiar line in this one. ;)

**Author's Note:**

> This was collection of drabbles posted originally on my Twitter account (@simmstan1) put together as one piece for this site.
> 
> It’s my first.


End file.
